Tuesday, January 17, 2012

This month's prompt for the January Blog Chain at Absolute Write: Winter Nightmare

Another broad one: go wherever the prompt takes you. It can be fiction or non-fiction, the nightmare can be Cthulhu or just a struggle with a troublesome New Year's resolution (or anything in between).

I go where my mind takes me and this post turned out to be fiction and I'm hoping the beginning of a short story. It's also creepy, for me anyway.This story started from two post on my humor blog. I know, I have a weird brain. Sorry if I creep you out.Here and here are the posts if you are interested.Be sure to check out my fellow blog chain buddies and what they did with the Winter Nightmare prompt below.

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The trees were the first to feel the impact of the raging winter storm. Their branches that were covered in the morning rain began to freeze as the temperature dropped. Ice crystallized and weighed them down. The weaker branches snapped from the weight and those that struggled to support the cumbersome burden gave way to the wind that whipped in frenzy. As the rain turned to snow, visibility became difficult for the neighborhood. The radio stations alerted the community to stay indoors and wait out the blizzard.

While most took heed to the warnings, one of the few drivers out on the roads was only blocks from his house. Delayed by a meeting at work he slowly drove on the unplowed roads seeking the safety of his home. Barely able to see five feet in front of the hood of his car, he gripped the steering wheel tightly. With only 500 feet or so left to his driveway he almost let himself relax, until he felt a thump. First at the front of his car and then he knew his back tires drove over something.

Looking out the review mirror he could barely make out an object on the road. He cursed and stopped his car. The wind and snow made it almost impossible to see as he made his way around the back of his vehicle. The creature lay there in the road unmoving. The man surveyed his surroundings. No one was in sight, everyone was safe in his or her warm home. He dragged the creature into a wooded area and haphazardly covered it with snow. The man then continued his short journey home to wait out the storm.

The man, in his haste, didn’t see the shallow breathing of the creature. It lay to wounded to move in the freezing snow as night fell. Small insects from the earth seeking warmth burrowed in to the skin of the dying animal. They fed on its flesh and burrowed in deeper, feasting on its organs.

Power lines were the next to succumb to the ice and blowing snow. Isolating the community during the night. As the clocks told them it was morning the people emerged from their homes to access the damage. Although it was still snowing the wind had subsided. The sound of chainsaws and snow blowers hummed as the clean up began.

The creature remained buried in a blanket of snow as the insects ravaged its body. They had made their way to its brain, driving it mad. Foam formed in its mouth and its eyes rolled back in its head. It lay in a heap where it had been dragged waiting for death.

As the days went by the power had been restored, temperatures rose enough for the children to play in the snow. A boy and his dog went to explore the woods, forbidden to do so by his parent, he went anyway. He and his dog ran through the woods, he threw sticks for his dog to fetch and threw rocks at the frozen creek trying to crack the ice. When his dog didn’t return with the stick the boy went to look for him. He could hear the dog barking in the distance and he followed the sound. He found the dog wildly barking at a lump in the snow. Curious, the boy got closer. He saw movement. The dog wouldn’t stop. As if he was warning the boy. The boy ignored the dog. He moved closer. Close enough to reach out. He began to brush away the snow. His hand came back red with blood. Wide eyed, the boy began to move away. But before he could, the creature with all the strength he had left lashed out at the boy and bit his hand. The creature’s misery ended there and the boys had just begun.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

From the confines of the saturated planet the earthworms surfaced, freeing themselves from their underground world. Taking a risk to be on land only to be stranded on the wet pavement. They waited there, squirming between the mailbox and me.

The rain had abated to only a fine mist, under the cover of my overwrought umbrella, I made my escape from the building that holds me hostage Monday through Friday.

The slight incline of the parking lots blacktop to the mailbox seemed to be moving. The rain made it look like a sheet of glass, adding the worms gave it the appearance of the very beginnings of a horror movie and I, walking into the unknown, was about to become the first victim.

Someone with a vivid imagination could say the ground came alive on that rainy day. The clever worms had plans to take over the world one receptionist at a time. Turn around you fool, turn and run before the worms crawl up your legs and burrow into your skin. Yes, that thought did come to mind as I tiptoed through the gazillion worms.

While I did not want worm goop on my shoes, I also didn’t want to upset them.But most of all I didn’t want to hinder the earthworm’s progress. They had exposed themselves to the dangers of the world. The sun was bound to come out eventually, if they didn’t make it back to their muddy existence they would surely shrivel up and die, that is if a hungry bird didn’t swoop down on them first, because to a bird they were merely breakfast.

I admired the worm’s tenacity. They were breaking away from the normalcy of their lives and take a giant leap into the unknown. Some of them were going to fail in their venture, many obstacles awaited them. Yet there they were out of their comfort zone and slithering into uncharted territory.